"Girlfriend" is a song by British-American rock band

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

, from their 1978 album '' London Town''. It was written by Wings frontman

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, who originally intended it to be sung by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

. Jackson then covered the song the following year on his 1979 album ''

Off the Wall ''Off the Wall'' is the fifth studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, and the first produced by Quincy Jones, whom he met ...

'', and in 1980 it was released (in the UK only) as the 5th and final single of that album.

Background

McCartney thought of "Girlfriend" as a song that Michael Jackson might like to record, and mentioned this to Jackson at a party in Hollywood. Jackson had stated in interviews with the music press in the 1970s that he was a fan of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and the chance to record a McCartney original helped to inspire his next project. However, McCartney ended up recording it himself with his band Wings, and it was issued in 1978 on the album '' London Town''. ''

Kingsport Times-News The ''Kingsport Times-News'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Kingsport, Tennessee, and distributed in six counties in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. It is owned by Six Rivers Media, LLC. History The first edition of ...

'' critic Michael Clark regarded the song as the better of the two

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

' sendups on ''London Town'', "

With a Little Luck "With a Little Luck" is a single by the band Wings from their 1978 album '' London Town''. It reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in May 1978. Writing, recording and release "With a Little Luck" was written in Scotland and was ...

" being the other. He also regarded it as one of the two best songs on the album, along with " I've Had Enough," praising the "light, bouncy melody" and the

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

singing added to the "sweet backing

harmonies In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

" whenever the word "girlfriend" is sung. On the other hand, ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

'' critic Henry McNulty regarded it as one of the Wings' weakest songs since " Wild Life", criticising its harmonies and lyrics, and finding only the "mildly exciting guitar line" to be worthy of even faint praise.

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

heard the song and suggested it as a possible track for Jackson to record for his 1979 album ''

'', not aware that the song had been written for Jackson in the first place. Jackson's recording omitted the

middle eight The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Th ...

heard in McCartney's version. It was issued exclusively in the UK in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, as the fifth and final single from the ''Off the Wall'' album. McCartney and Jackson subsequently worked together on "

The Girl Is Mine "The Girl Is Mine" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson and English singer-songwriter and musician Paul McCartney for Jackson's sixth solo album, '' Thriller''. The track was written and co-produced by Jackson and ...

" from Jackson's '' Thriller'', as well as "

Say Say Say "Say Say Say" is a song by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, released in October 1983 as the lead single from McCartney's 1983 album '' Pipes of Peace''. Produced by George Martin, it was recorded during production of McCartney's 1982 '' Tu ...

" and "The Man", from McCartney's ''

Pipes of Peace ''Pipes of Peace'' is the fourth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney, released on 31 October 1983. As the follow-up to the popular '' Tug of War'', the album came close to matching the commercial success of its predece ...

''. In 1985, Jackson acquired the

ATV Music Publishing ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbo ...

catalog (which held the rights to nearly every Beatles song) uncontested by McCartney. According to McCartney, they "drifted apart" after he talked to Jackson about getting a "raise" and Jackson did not act on it.

Personnel

– vocals, bass, acoustic and electric guitars, drums, electric piano, synthesizers, possible piano *

Linda McCartney Linda Louise, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, cookbook author, and activist. She was the keyboardist and harmony vocalist in the band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings tha ...

– keyboards, backing vocals *

Denny Laine Brian Frederick Hines (29 October 1944 – 5 December 2023), known professionally as Denny Laine, was an English musician who co-founded two major rock bands: the Moody Blues and Wings. Laine played guitar in the Moody Blues from 1964 to 1966 ...

– acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals, possible piano

Michael Jackson version

heard the song and suggested it as a possible track for Jackson to record for his 1979 album ''

'', not aware that the song had been written for Jackson in the first place. Jackson's recording omitted the

heard in McCartney's version. It was issued exclusively in the UK in

, as the fifth and final single from the ''Off the Wall'' album. McCartney and Jackson subsequently worked together on "

" from Jackson's '' Thriller'', as well as "

" and "The Man", from McCartney's ''

''. In 1985, Jackson acquired the

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that Jackson's version was "rendered brilliantly".

Personal

*Produced by

*Recorded and mixed by

Bruce Swedien Bruce Swedien ( ) (April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Swedie ...

*Lead and background vocals:

*Bass: Louis Johnson *Drums: John Robinson *Rhodes piano:

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...

*Synthesizer:

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

*Synthesizer programming:

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, singer, and film music composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff ...

and

*Guitar:

Wah Wah Watson Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as Wah Wah Watson, was an American guitarist who was a member of the Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. He also worked extensively as a session musician ...

and Marlo Henderson *Horns arranged by

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

and performed by The

Seawind Horns Seawind may refer to: Cruise companies * SeaWind Line, a subsidiary of a Finnish passenger shipping company *SeaWind Cruise Line, the operator of the ''SeaWind Crown'' and eventual subsidiary of Premier Cruises Premier Cruises was a cruise li ...

: **Trumpet and flugelhorn:

**Tenor, alto saxophones and flute:

Larry Williams Lawrence Eugene Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist from New Orleans. He is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to ...

**Baritone, tenor saxophones and flute: Kim Hutchcroft **Trombone: William Reichenbach **Trumpet: Gary Grant *Alto sax solo: Larry Williams *Rhythm arrangement by Quincy Jones,

Tom Bahler Thomas Lee Bahler (also spelled Bähler; ; born June 1, 1943) is an American singer, composer, songwriter, arranger, producer and author. Bahler is most known for his song "She's Out of My Life", which was recorded by Michael Jackson; the song was ...

and Greg Phillinganes *Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones

References

External links

Lyrics from Paul McCartney's official site
{{authority control 1977 songs 1980 singles Paul McCartney and Wings songs Michael Jackson songs Paul McCartney songs Songs written by Paul McCartney Pop ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Song recordings produced by Quincy Jones Epic Records singles Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney Music published by MPL Music Publishing 1970s ballads Songs about infidelity